Tagged: Wildlife

Mar 22

up close

Just to prove to u guys that I do get up close to the animals……


Sweet Goeters (He’s 17 years old!)


Me throwing meat to the Lions!


Watch out u guys! Loooooch is Shoooooooooting!


Sleeping with a cute little kitten


My baby Mongooses!!


Sweet little Duma.. awww… she’s so cute


Zion the bully!


Haha… our costme party! (I’m that tortoise at the back… ha-ha-ha-very-funny) Yea we actually have to dress up as one of the animals we take care of…. It was actually a competition and I won!!!


A sign I made for the center

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Posted in Namibia

Mar 16

more pictures from harnas

Okay more pictures….


2 cheetahs grooming each other.. aww.. thats so sweet…


So which is the most dangerous feline in the cat family??


Timon: Pumbaa you’re just plain stupid!
Pumbaa: Sorry timon…


Little Zion’s got a new toy!






Zion the Bully


Gotcha!

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Posted in Namibia

Mar 03

Safe and Sound in Namibia

Safe and Sound in Namibia, The land with 300 days of sunshine a year.

The first thing in my mind when I got off South African Airways SA074 I couldn’t help but smile to myself. ‘omg. I am stepping on Africal soil. I can’t believe it. This is like a 22 yrs’ dream come true. I am in Africa!’

I can’t emphasize enough this place is a MUST for animal lovers… esp cat lovers. There are more than 30 cats in total in the whole lodging area.

First thing that came to greet me when I arrived the rescue center were 2 cute little kittens, rushing towards that 4WD I was on.

In the middle of the night a kitten jumped onto my stomach and purred ever so loudly. The next morning when I woke up I thought it was a dream, but then I saw that very same kitten beside my pillow.

When I was brushing my teeth another kitten suddenly pounced onto the sink. I pushed him away and he pounced back and started licking the tap water. Totally unashamed of himself.

Here comes the exciting part.

There were over 20 cheetahs altogether in this rescue center and most of them are too tamed to be released back into the wild. (Nikkita, Aloise, Duma, Bony, Leuki, etc… can’t remember all their names, cant even tell who’s who yet) Apparently cheetahs are the only african big cat that can be completely tamed (i.e. doesnt get mad if you touch them when they’re eating) They were so affectionate, So close to human, hungry for human contact (They keep rubbing their cheeks against us like huge pussy cats) and their purr when we pet them… awww…. I wish i could record it and use it as my ringtone!!! They love to play chase and roll on their back. What graceful animals. Simply gorgeous.

Then there’s that little lion cub called Zion. 6 weeks old. But quite heavy though.

There’s also a gay zebra called Zeba, They told us he’s gay since they’ve been trying to breed him but he hated all the female zebras and hurted them. how funny’s that.

Africa’s cool, there sth for everyone: big cats for me, zebras (white with black stripes) for val, elephant for ah gik, ostrish for fa, all wild wild animals for judif, cats for lilian, haha, wat else?

But ppl here speak german mostly. Judif I need ur help.

Saw a double rainbow on the first day I arrived. It was HUGE! Never seen a double rainbow THAT big b4, it was literally an arch from one end of Namibia to the other end! I couldn’t capture the whole thing so here it is, one small segment of it.

mmm… now this tastes good

The well-known tear mark

3 of them (Forgot their names though)

The little prince!!

Hakuna Matata!

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Posted in Namibia

Dec 22

a trip of a lifetime

I can already say this is THE most amazing trip I ever had in my whole entire life.

Been to Galapagos Islands during the last 4 days, and I was on a ship.

Galapagos Islands is a remote group of little islands in the middle of the pacific ocean, and is the place where Charles Darwin did his research and eventually came to the conclusion of the theory of evolution. As a fan of Charles Darwin I think I really should visit this island (although I’m only halfway through his best-selling ‘Origin of Species’) Apparently 90% of the wildlife found in Galapagos Islands cannot be found elsewhere in the world. And every island has very different vegetation and animals… this is what amazed Charles Darwin. As an avid wildlife-lover I just HAVE to visit these islands… This is a trip of a lifetime

First of all, there were about 80 people on the ship and we were separated into 5 groups and there will be a tour guide showing us around in the islands. everyday there are 2 excursions in the different islands and we can observe and learn about the very distinct wildlives in these islands. What amused me most were the VERY VERY CUTE SEA LIONS!!! We were just inches away from them! But werent allowed to touch them though.. but that’s good enough, never been that close with sea lions!

There’s an island full of Marine Iguanas….. They look so much like dinosaurs haha…. there were so many of them we had to look at the floor and be really careful not to step on them!!!!!! My group members and I have been calling the island Jurrasic Park!!!! Steven Spielberg must’ve been to this island and got his inspiration!!

There are some blue-footed birds called blue-footed boobies, for obvious reasons, and that blue is so unnaturual you wont believe this is a real animal…

Went snorkeling. The underwater life was beautiful! Schools and schools and fish swam past me as if I werent there. I saw a shark, a starfish, a sea turtle, and even a few sea lions swam past me….. A male was staring at me as he swim past. I was kinda scared to start with since they said males can get very aggresive. But snorkeling in galapagos was delicious! Never seen any water so clear and clean, so unpolluted that I don’t have to dive in order to see everything at the bottom….

You know I took 5 Gb’s of photos just for these 4 days… I guess I won’t upload them here yet… I am definitely going to make a website exclusively for this Latino trip with all those photos and diaries!

There was an american family with 2 teenage girls. That day the father suddenly came towards us and talked in mandarin. I was so shocked and asked where did he learn that. He pointed at his daughter and said (in mandarin) ‘This is my teacher!’ (and his daughter’s about 16/17 only!) Then her daughter talked to me in mandarin. I answered ‘I am not going to embarrass myself, so I am just gonna talk in english. How can an american speak better chinese than a chinese??!’ Apparently they got a Chinese nanny at their home in US and she’s been working there ever since that girl was born. And the father wanted that girl to learn Chinese so he forced the girl to speak only in Chinese to the nanny. So the nanny is actually a private tutor as well. And you know what that girl can WRITE chinese without problem!!! So I guess Chinese to her is like English to me. Her mom then told me she studied university in taiwan!! There are 2 really old grannies travelling with them, and I heard that their grandma just recovered from her cancer surgery and the whole family came to this trip to celebrate!

There was a Piano Bar in the ship. I saw it and got excited. Havent played any piano for more than 3 weeks. there I went. playing a few of my favorite songs.

The next day, a girl in my group (Russian girl a year older than me) came to me and said ‘hey, I heard u play the piano last night’
‘Oh really?’
‘I liked it so much!’
‘haha.. okay… thanks’

Then we started chatting non-stop. About our countries, about our schools, about our lives, about the wildlife in theses islands…. everything. We saw a mom and baby sea lion then we started making up conversations for them…

That night during dinner she came towards my table and gave me her email. wakaka.

Then there’s that american guy. a bit older than me. I saw him drawing a lot, in the beaches, in the forest, in the mountains. Then I told him ‘I like your drawings a lot, they’re just soooooo goood!’ (I did mean it), then he asked ‘was that you who drew that picture on the sand in the beach yesterday????’ I said yes. Then we got all excited and started chatting about japanese comics and animations, for the whole excursion. During the last day we drew pictures in each other’s sketch book, and exchanged emails. I promised to give him a list of must-read comics.

I always sit with my mom and her friends during dinner, and as typical hk ppl we will start observing other ppl on the ship and comment on them.. one by one…. After dinner all the younger ones on the ship liked to hang out at the out-door pool area/bar. Of course I did go and meet them la. There’s a newly wedded couple having their honeymoon in this remote island, we started chatting then she told us how they have been observing other ppl on the ship and commenting on them… one by one… we then broke into hysterical laughters, since our comments on those ppl were exactly the same.. haha

Of course, at the end of the tour I got lots of emails… also some really pretty pictures in my book. OMG! Does these scenes look familiar? It’s so much like all those summer camps I’ve been to! Oh how I miss my summer camps…. those good old days when I wasn’t over-aged for summer camps….

Off to Peru tomorrow. Haven’t expected much, since I have enjoyed Quito and Galapagos sooooooooooooooo much….. I am starting to worry that Peru is going to disappoint me…. Should have done it the other way round.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Dec 13

Ecuadorian Snippets

Actually, sometimes I wonder if it really is that special to be a CHINESE??? How come I get stared at just EVERYWHERE! I mean of course people do look at you in the streets, especially if you’re a different race, but anything more than 5 seconds makes you feel uneasy and uncomfortable yeah? When I walk in the streets they do turn their heads like a Ferrari just drove past! And when drivers drive past me they like to honk and go ‘Oy, Chinita (Hey, Chinese girl)!’ Argh. I remember the volunteer booklet told me that girls especially that of a different race should be expected to be stared at, whistled to and honked at. But well, I’m used to it and I don’t seem to mind anymore :p. I just try to get home before sunset everyday. For the past 2.5 weeks here I have only seen ONE Asian so far, it was a Japanese and he was walking alone, might be a tourist.

The weekend Banos trip was fantastico. The streets are pretty quiet at night so I tried to return to the hostel before the sky got dark. Nothing much I could do in my room so I watched TV. There was an English Channel… sth like ‘just for gags’ was on… omg… laugh die me… I gotta tell you guys about it when I come back to Hong Kong… I was laughing like an idiot on my own in the hostel room. I’m glad I booked a single room.

Saw the Ecuadorean Mok Hoi Him!! You know in Ecuador, the buses’ doors never close so it’s hop-on-hop-off, and lots of street kids hop into the bus once in a while to sell things to earn a bit of money, like 10 cents a bar of caramel, or mint, and sometimes they sell batteries (not sure if those still work) and Christmas ornaments during this time of the year… Then yesterday a kid (around 6/7 years old) hopped in with empty hands, said a few words, then started singing… OMG!!! And that must be a love song he was singing… since I heard things like ‘you are in my heart’, ‘I want to hold you in my hands’ – All those simple Espanol which I understood… and you gotta look at his facial expression and hand gestures… Very tou jui… he HAS TO sing in charn huk yut ding…. Will definitely make him a toi jue! Gave him a quarter before I got off the bus. I took a short video clip of him, but didn’t capture the funniest looks he had… Ask me if you wanna see it…

Hired an off-road kart, or mountain kart, or Mario kart(150cc)… not sure what it’s called… But they are driven on the road if not in the mountains, and the driver has to follow all road signs and traffic regulations like all other cars. I thought I need some practice in driving before I go back to Hong Kong or else I wont remember how to drive (Consider I have to drive the first day I go back… hehehe…) That guy in the rental store asked whether I got a driving license, I said yes, then he asked for my passport instead. Wow, so I don’t even have to prove my eligibility for driving. Then I took off. In the very first turn I made, I already made a serious driving error. All the cars were facing me. I was like wtf are these cars doing here facing ME??? Those drivers look back at me like wtf is this kid doing, driving in the opposite direction??? Then I realized… THIS IS SOUTH AMERICA! I am supposed to keep RIGHT! Omg, so I immediately drove back to the right side while all the cars honked at me. I headed for the mountains. I was driving at top speed. The road was SOOOO bumpy I almost fell of the kart. In fact I did fall off once but I landed safely on my feet. Driving that thingy was extremely SONG! Though that darn thing stalled a few times, checked under the kart and I realized the chain fell off the gears. I tried to put it back on but then I accidentally touched the exhaust pipe and burnt my hands!!!! Don’t worry I am fine, and I successfully put the chain back on. Now I wanna buy a motorbike when I go back to HK :p. Oh, and I became so used to keeping right now, I might now be facing the wrong direction in Hong Kong, which will be even more disastrous…

One thing I noticed in this country. Women love to breast feed whenever, wherever – in the streets, in the restaurant, in the supermarket, in the bus, in the museum, in the zoo, and the list goes on. I try not to look when they do it :p.

About work… There’s some kind of party today at the clinic and they are giving out Christmas presents to all sponsored families. Hundreds of people, parents and kiddos were queuing up at the front door to get their presents. Everyone except one doctor and one dentist had to help prepare the presents. Then my job was to roll up 2006 calendars. While I was doing it a few kids were watching me, then they started helping me roll them bit by bit, stick them, and eventually they took up the whole of my job. Okay, my turn to watch them then. They were very hyper and keen to help. When all calendars have been rolled up they asked if that’s it. I told them ‘Hay mas en la oficina’ (there are still more in the office), then one of the boys… about 3 yrs old, tiny built, skin head, brown hair, round face, tan skin, big glittery eyes, high pitched voice started jumping up and down and shrieked happily ‘Mas! Mas! Mas! Mas!’ (More! More!) Aiya… I wanna carry him back to Hong Kong.

That night my host wasn’t feeling well and she didn’t have dinner, so I dined with her nephew and niece. Her nephew started chatting with me about the World Cup, he told me how much the Ecuadorean national team has improved and they will be doing so much better this coming season. Then he asked what my favorite sport is. I said it’s Beisbol (I suppose you can guess what it is eh?) Then he got all excited and talked in bullet-gun speed and I couldn’t follow anymore. But I know he was talking about the World Series, how the Chicago white sox beat the Houston astros. Well, another White sox band-wagon fan…. I just went yea, it was such an exciting game, yea, white sox deserved that, yea, it was a brilliant team. Argh! I can’t even say ‘pitcher’ in Espanol!! FROM NOW ON, I am viewing the www.mlb.com site in ESPANOL!! Then I can chat with latinos about beisbol!

HEY JUDITH LING SZE MAN: You said you wanted a hot Latino guy as a souvenir right? What about my host’s nephew? Hahaha…

I am speaking more and more Espanglish, as much Chinglish as I have spoken in Hong Kong… haha…

NOW…. some photos, which everyone had requested… (Found it so hard to choose the ones to put here! Got lots more, will show u guys when I come back)

The streets near my host family (apparently this is like the richest part of Quito)

The clinic I work in

Area near it

Parents waiting for their kids’ turn

My trip to an animal rescue center in Santa Martha– The spotted one is an Ocelot, the Blotched/stipred one is a Margay.

A Jaguarundi — a strictly South American Wild cat

This Puma is SO SWEET, she loves to be stroked! And she is meowing here.

A Not-so-friendly looking Jaguar, but apparently he loves to play with humans

A Lioness and her cub!!!!!!!!! OMG! SO CUTE!!

A VERY old tiger rescued from a circus. He’s got no teeth and no claws, and finding it pretty hard to eat that chicken.

WOW!! Streets which celebrates my birtday!! Haha well actually 10 of August is quito’s independance day.. So they got 10th Aug Road everywhere.

Shoe polishing kids in hte city center

8 out of 10 cars I see here are Chevrolets… 1 is a Hyndai and the other 1 is all other cars. The only mini cooper I’ve seen in this country so far…

Domenica! Will grow up to be a really pretty girl

Look what TV I watch here….

Doraemon and Nobita are everywhere…

This is hilarious

Even their graffiti

Are they lanterns?

Me standing on the Equator

Cowboy Looch! wahaha, just to show you guys that I’m still in 1 piece.

Buenas Noches!

Little kids

Market selling typical Ecuadorean Cloth

The kids here are having sth like a parade.. And that one dressed as a doctor is in charged of delivering water… ‘Cha sui bo’ hahahhaa

Carolina Park… The Hyde park equivalent of Quito

OMG look at the rubbish

cute puppies for sale

10 cents to know our weight? omg ppl are doing anything to earn money in here

Look at the beautiful scenery

All surrounded by green

Some random Town shots

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Posted in Uncategorized